“Strategic Planning” – Articles

SHAPING THE FUTURE

Have you ever had to rebuild a department…or entire organization? Did you wrestle with how much to structure the process versus letting others handle it? We did. One of our departments had gone through a tough period. An ego-driven, bully-type person had led it. There...

The Best of Times…The Worst of Times

The Worst of Times… Leading a nonprofit organization, especially a social service organization, is an honor and singular opportunity to positively impact the lives of those going through tough times in your community. We all should be so fortunate to have the chance...

Customer Intimacy

Strong customer relationships may be the best way to serve your clients and retain their business over the long haul. Another word for that is “intimacy”. While pricing and other terms are important, and must be “in the ballpark”, strong client relations, or intimacy,...

Is your organization ready for the future or living in the past

Is your business model or organizational structure ready for tomorrow’s opportunities and challenges, or does it still reflect your “hey days” of the past? If your firm did not exist and you were to create it new today, what would it look like? It’s true, many...

Mission, Vision, Values

Having a clear mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement, one the entire leadership team helped create, fully understands, and commits to follow, is a terrific tool. It not only provides a motivational and rallying point for employees and volunteers, it also...

Financial Management

One thing about a nonprofit’s financials is that revenue projections can be a bit “iffy”, while projected expenses always seem to roll in just as planned. Aggressive revenue projections are not necessarily bad, but unless someone owns the fund raising function-and...

Metrics

They say if you want to improve something, start measuring it. School grades, weight, financial results; we measure a lot. But, do you measure what really counts-the activities that ultimately determine results? Do you know what key activities determine your...

Serving the Client: Evaluation

Every company and leader says they are client-centered and are there to provide services that help them. And, most of the time, the services do. But, have you taken a close look at your clients lately? When was the last time you evaluated your current service...